Soak Up the Sun
by Dragonfly-Moonlight
Summary: G1. The Constructicons have a bit of a bad day, especially with a deadline hanging over their heads.


Recommended Music: Soak Up the Sun by Sheryl Crow

* * *

It was a bright, beautiful day out. A light breeze had picked up and the temperature was a nice eighty degrees. But those were the only nice things about this day in particular. 

On this day, the Constructicons were having the lousiest day at their work site. Scrapper felt that his designs were being mutilated by the other Constructicons, Mixmaster was worse than usual at being a nutcase, Bonecrusher was wanting to blast the site to smithereens, Scavenger and Long Haul were arguing over something incredibly stupid, and Hook felt as if he had a massive headache from all of it. To make matters worse for the team, Soundwave and Starscream were watching them. Little did they realize it, though.

"You've botched my plans!"

"They were botched up to begin with!"

"It should be this way!"

"No! This way! And I want to add this as well . . ."

_BOOM!_

Hook groaned and decided he'd had enough. He had to get away from this madness.

"That's it!"

The other five Constructicons looked at Hook, all of them obviously surprised by his outburst.

"What's it, Hook?"

"This," he gestured to the five of them. "The fighting, the constant bickering. We have a deadline to meet _today_ and we're not even doing a slagging thing about it! I've had it!"

With that, he stormed off.

888888888

Starscream smirked as he and Soundwave watched Hook storm off.

"Guess that's one deadline they won't be meeting," he smirked.

Soundwave said nothing. He knew that the Constructicons were quite capable of making the deadline of midnight. If not, they'd be pretty close.

"Well, no reason for us to stay," Starscream said. "We can leave now."

Soundwave made no move to leave, even after the remaining five Constructicons dispersed as well, each heading in an opposite direction as the other. Starscream sighed.

"Fine. Stay here. See if I care."

With that, he was gone.

888888888

Scrapper transformed as he walked away, his anger burning hot and serving as a propellant.

"Stupid idiots," he muttered. "Wouldn't even be behind if they hadn't botched up my designs!"

But the more he thought about it, the more Scrapper realized that, even though they _were_ a bunch of idiots, he still needed them to help him build it. He also began to run over the schematics in his mind and saw some design flaws that, while they were relatively small, they could end up being detrimental in the long run.

_Well, what do you know?_ he thought. _Long Haul was right! Better go back and fix them. Deadline is today!_

Quickly, Scrapper turned around and drove back to the site. On his way back, he turned his radio on and picked up a human rock and roll station, Scrapper mentally tapping his foot to the beat as he drove back.

888888888

Mixmaster had no idea as to where he was going or why he was even leaving in the first place. He really didn't need to be at the construction site. As far as he was concerned, he had done his share. Mixmaster had the right to act a little goofy every now and then. Hook had no right to be angry with him, after all.

But, as he drove and thought about it, Mixmaster no longer felt certain that he had done all that he could. He wondered if there was something more that he could do. It was as if he had left his job half-finished and he didn't like that.

Swiftly, he turned himself around and drove as quickly as he could back to the construction site.

On his way back, Mixmaster turned his radio on to a human radio station. Ironically, it was the same radio station Scrapper had tuned into and to the very same song, Mixmaster humming as he drove.

888888888

Bonecrusher grumbled to himself as he drove. Sure they were his comrades but that didn't mean they understood him. At that moment, Bonecrusher hated his comrades and hated the fact that they didn't appreciate him or his skills.

As he thought about it, however, he began to feel that maybe he might have been a bit unfair to his comrades in feeling the way that he did. After all, he did get to blast the site to begin the construction and the others had their roles to play as well.

Even though he didn't need to be there, Bonecrusher turned back around and sped back to the site. He wanted to be there when the project was finished. Like his comrades, he, too, had a share in everything.

Not liking the silence, Bonecrusher turned his radio in to a human rock station, the same one Scrapper and Mixmaster had turned on. Bonecrusher smiled to himself as he drove. It was turning out to be a beautiful day indeed.

888888888

Scavenger felt like the odd Constructicon odd. Mixmaster and Bonecrusher had gotten to make their contributions but, every time he tried to, he was shot down by either Scrapper or Long Haul. He was getting tired of it.

_I wish that they'd use the stuff I've gotten for this project. It's not like Scrapper can't incorporate the stuff into the structure. It'd help strengthen it!_

Of course, Scrapper hadn't seen it that way.

_Maybe if I showed him on the designs itself, he might just see it. We may not be able to use everything I've gathered but we can at least use some it._

Scavenger, feeling renewed hope, turned around and headed back. Like his other comrades, he turned on his radio to a human rock station. The same one as Scrapper, Mixmaster, and Bonecrusher. Like Scrapper, Scavenger found himself mentally tapping his foot to the beat as he drove.

8888888888

Long Haul sighed to himself as he drove. It hadn't been easy trying to mediate between Scrapper and Scavenger. He now knew why Megatron and Hook had given him the supervisor job for this in the first place. Long Haul had a bit more respect for it now.

In looking back, he began to feel that the headache behind it had been worth it. He wasn't about to change it for anything.

_But Hook's right. We have a deadline to meet. It's worth it, but only when the job is done. Doesn't do any good to walk away._

He turned around, tuning in the radio as he did so, catching the line about being crazy.

_Yep, we're all crazy. But then we wouldn't be who we are if we weren't._

Long Haul chuckled as he drove back. The day was salvageable, after all.

888888888

Hook sat on a rocky cliffside, looking over the Pacific Ocean. The sun was setting over the horizon and he felt relaxed in just watching it. His cares had melted away for the moment and he paid no heed as five other vehicles approached from the east. Nor did he really care as the other Constructicons approached him and either sat down or sprawled out.

For a while, none of them said anything, each lost in his own thoughts. Finally, Long Haul spoke.

"It's complete. Megatron is satisfied."

Hook just nodded. That was one less thing to worry about. Now if only there could be a little quiet time among them . . .

"Nice how the sun reflects off of the water," Scavenger commented.

"Yeah," Bonecrusher agreed. "But the planet itself is still a miserable little mudball."

The Constructicons laughed at that and watched the sun fade into the sky, each one soaking up the last rays.

The day had been a good one, after all.


End file.
